Electric floor polishers



June 21, 1960 o. ALLEN ETAL 2,941,222

ELECTRIC FLOOR POLISHERS Filed Nov. 24, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORSOllvk 0. Hut 550 P. BURROS!!! PnYMu/o A. Beamv THETR ATivR EY June 21,1960 Q ALLEN ETAL 2,941,222

ELECTRIC FLOOR POLISHERS I Filed Nov. 24, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTORS OLIVE: L. ELLEN Lzou R Bee/roam Enrmmvo L. 520w Jon/v T.Fsezme/s THEIR AjTORNEY June 21, 1960 o. L. ALLEN ETAL ELECTRIC FLOORPOLISHERS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed NOV. 24, 1958 NKw: imam m RHEJQ 0 o 2 RT if 0 0B T ME N T. Vn mf A. m,, m R fvmo 1. J T.

United States Patent ELECTRIC rrooa POLISHERS Oliver L. Allen,Riverside, and Leon P. Borkoski, Stamford, Conn., Raymond L. Brown,Banksville, N.Y., and John T. Ferraris, Stamford, Conn., assignors toElectrolux Corporation, Old Greenwich, Conn., a corporation of DelawareFiled Nov. 24, 1958, Ser. No. 776,034

Claims. (Cl. 49)

7 Our invention relates to a motor driven multi-brush floor polisher andmore particularly to an improved positive drive for the polishingmembers.

. Heretofore, it has been common practice to either provide separategear drives for the different polishing members, or to provide a singlebelt for driving all of them, which belt is driven by a pulley mounteddirectly on the motor shaft. The disadvantage of the first arrangementresides in the increased cost of separate gear drives, while with thesecond arrangement it has been impossible to prevent slippage of thebelt when the polishing elements are subjected to a heavy load.

In accordance with our invention we provide a single gear drive toprovide the necessary reduction in speed.

Thisrotates directly one of the polishing members which i is providedwith a toothed sprocket wheel which drives a flexible endlesstransmission member, such as a chain or a timing belt which positivelydrives the other polishing member or members through a toothed sprocketwheel or wheels.

Further objects and advantages of our invention will be apparent fromthe following description when considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings which form a part of the specification and ofwhich:

.of Fig. 4;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 44 .Of Fig. 1; and

" Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, reference character 10 designates generally'atriangularly shaped base member having a depending skirt portion 12, thelower edge of which carries a protection bumper 14. Near one of itsapices the base member is formed with an opening 16.

-An apertured plate member 18 is secured to the base member over thisopening by means of bolts 20, shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Mounted on the plate 18 by means of bolts 22 is a gear case designatedgenerally by reference character 24. This case includes a hollowelongated portion 26 which extends downwardly through the aperture inplate 18 and through the opening 16 so as to terminate below the base 10and within the space defined by the skirt 12 thereof. A pair of sleevebearings 28 is disposed within the portion 26 and rotatably support adrive shaft 30, the lower end of which protrudes beyond the end ofportion 26 of the gear case.

A worm gear 32 is secured to the upper end of shaft 30 within the caseand meshes with a worm 34 which is secured to the end of the armatureshaft 36 of an electric motor designated generally by referencecharacter 2,941,222 Patented June 21, 1960 38. The upper end of the gearcase 24 is closed by a removable cover 40.

The gear case 24 includes a portion 42 which also constitutes a bearingbracket of the motor 38, the motor frame being secured thereto by meansof bolts 44. Thus, the motor is supported entirely from the gear caseand no separate mounting on the base 10' is required.

A driving sprocket wheel 46 is secured to the protruding end of shaft 30in any suitable manner, as by the pin 48. A circular brush 50,constituting a polishing member, may be removably secured to the hubportion 52 of the sprocket wheel as by means of a resilient snap ring 54which engages an annular groove formed in the outer surface of the hub.

A pair of sleeve bearings 56 is mounted in the triangular base 10adjacent to its other two apices. A stub shaft 58 is rotatably supportedin each of the bearings 56 andeach shaft has secured thereto a driventoothed sprocket wheel 60. As is shown more particularly in Fig. 3, aflexible endless transmission member 62 in the form of a toothed belt,commonly known as a timing belt, engages the sprocket wheels 46 and 60so that the wheel 46 may drive the other two wheels. Polishing discs 64are removably secured to the hubs of wheels 60 in the same manner asdisc 50 is secured to the hub of wheel 46. As will be seen from Figs. 2and 4, the bristles 66 of the polishing discs extend below the loweredge of the skirt portion l2 so as to contact the surface which is tobepolished. The bristles are also flared somewhat so that their lower endsextend outwardly at least as far as the outer edge of the bumper 14 inorder that they may polish right up to a baseboard.

Secured to the upper surface of the base 10 are handle brackets 70 and72. A handle, designated generally by reference character 74 has aforked lower portion 76 which is rotatably connected to the brackets 70and 72. An electric cord 78 for supplying current to the motor passesthrough the bracket 70 into one leg of the fork thence through thehollow handle portion.

Connected by means of a bolt 79 to the other leg of the fork adjacent tothe bracket 72 is a switch actuating internal cam 80 having the contourshown in Fig. 5. A lever 82 is pivotally mounted at 84 on thehandlebracket 72 and carries a cam follower 86. The other end of the lever 84carries a switch actuating member 88 which cooperates with the arm 90 ofa standard toggle switch designated generally by reference character 92.A spring 94 tends to maintain the arm 90 at all times in its uppermostposition, which is the on position of the switch.

In Fig. 5 the cam is shown in the position which it occupies when thehandle 74 is in the position shown in Fig. 1, namely extendingsubstantially parallel to the floor. Inthis position the point 95 of thecam forces the cam follower 86 and the lever 82 downwardly, thus movingthe switch arm 90.to its lower or off position. If the handle 74 israised to its normal inclined position of use, the point 96 of the camwill be in contact with the cam follower 86,.thus permitting spring 94to pivot the switch arm 90 to its upper or on position, thus closing thecircuit to the motor. If the handle is raised still further to thevertical position as shown in Fig. 4, the cam 80 is rotated until thepoint 98 thereof contacts the cam follower 86 which forces the lever 82downwardly to the same position as shown in Fig. 5, thus throwing theswitch to its off position. Hence, if the handle of the floor polisheris dropped to the floor or raised to its vertical position, which is thenormal position for storage, the motor is automatically shut off, butthe motor circuit is closed whenever the handle is in its normalinclined position of use. v

One of the legs 76 of the fork is provided with a pivoted latch member100 which engages a project-ion 102 formed on a hood member 104 to itsvertical position so as to retain the handle in this position. The latchis provided with a projecting arm 106 adapted to be pressed by the footso as to pivot the latch out of engagement with the projection 102 whenit is desired to lower the handle to its operative position. The hood104 is provided to conceal the mechanism mounted on base 10 and to givethe floor polisher a pleasing appearance.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that there is a positivedrive from the motor 38 to the polishing members 50 and 64. A reductionin speed and hence a multiplication in torque is provided by the wormdrive in the gear case 24. The polishing member 50 is driven directlyfrom the driving sprocket 46 which is secured to the drive shaft 30 ofthe gear case. The sprocket 46 in turn positively drives the other twosprockets 60 by means of the timing belt 62. As is well known, this beltis provided with teeth which meshes with the teeth in the sprocketwheels so as to provide a positive drive which is entirely free from anypossibility of slippage. While we have shown one more or less specificembodiment of our invention it is to be understood that this has beendone for the purpose of illustration only and that the scope of ourinvention is not to be limited thereby, but is to be determined from theappended claims.

What we claim is:

1., In a floor polisher, a base, an electric motor mounted above saidbase, a shaft extending vertically all the way through said base,toothed gearing disposed above said base for driving said shaft by saidmotor, a toothed sprocket wheel secured to said shaft below said base,polishing means disposed below said shaft and driven thereby, aplurality of stub shafts carried by said base and extending downwardlytherefrom, a toothed sprocket wheel mounted on each of said stub shaftsbelow said base, a flexible transmission member positively engaging allof said sprocket wheels, and polishing means disposed below each of saidstub shafts and driven by the sprocket wheels mounted thereon.

2. In a floor polisher, a base, a gear case mounted on said base, anelectric motor supported bysaid gear case with its armature shaftdisposed parallel to said base and extending into said case, a worm onsaid shaft within 'saidcase, a bearing carried by said case, a driveshaft rotatably mounted in said bearing and extending downwardly throughan opening in said base, a Worm gear on said drive shaft within saidcase and meshing with said worm, a toothed sprocket wheel secured tosaid drive shaft below said base, a plurality of stub shafts carried bysaid base and extending downwardly therefrom, a toothed sprocket wheelmounted on each of said stub shafts, a flexible transmission memberpositively engaging all of said sprocket wheels, and polishing meansdisposed below and driven by each of said sprocket wheels. I

3. In a floor polisher, a base formed with an opening therethrough, anapertured plate member secured to said base over said opening, a gearcase mounted on said plate and having an elongated hollow portionextending through said aperture and said opening, an electric motorsupported by said gear case with its armature shaft disposed parallel tosaid base and extending into said case, a worm on said shaft within saidcase, a drive shaft when the handle is raised journaled in saidelongated position and protruding therefrom, a worm gear on said driveshaft within said case meshing with said worth, a toothed sprocket wheelsecured to the protruding end of said drive shaft below said base, aplurality of stub shafts carried by said base and extending downwardly"therefrom, a toothed sprocket wheel mounted on each of said stub shafts,a flexible transmission member positively engaging all of said sprocketwheels, and polishing means disposed below each of said stub shafts anddriven by the sprocket Wheels mounted thereon.

4. In a floor polisher, a triangular base formed with an openingtherethrough adjacent to one of its apices, an apertured plate membersecured to said base over said opening, a gear case mounted on saidplate and having an elongated hollow portion extending through saidaperture and said opening, an electric motor supported by said gear casewith its armature shaft disposed paralIel to said base and extendinginto said case, a worm on said shaft within said case, a drive shaftjournaled in said elongated portion and protruding therefrom, a wormgear on said drive shaft within said case and meshing with said worm, atoothed sprocket wheel secured to the protruding end of said drive shaftbelow said base, a stub shaft carried by said triangular base adjacentto each of its other two apices and extending downwardly therefrom, atoothed sprocket wheel mounted on each of said st'ub shafts, a flexibleendless transmission member positively engaging all of said sprocketwheels, and polishing means disposed below and driven by each of saidsprocket wheels.

5. In a floor polisher, a triangular base formed with I an openingtherethrough adjacent to one of its apices, an

apertured plate member secured to said base over said opening, a gearcase mounted on said plate and having an elongated hollow portionextending through said aperture and said opening, an electric motorsupported by said gear case with its armature shaft disposed parallel tosaid base and extending into said case, a worm on said shaft within saidcase, a drive shaft journaled in said elongated portion and protrudingtherefrom, a worm gear on said drive shaft within said case and meshingwith said worm, a toothed sprocket wheel secured to the protruding endof said drive shaft below said base, a bearing mounted in said baseadjacent to each of its other two apices, a stub shaft rotatablysupported in each bearing and extending downwardly below said base, atoothed sprocket wheel mounted on each of said stub shafts, a flexibleendless transmission member positively engaging all 'of said sprocketwheels, and polishing means disposed below and driven by each of saidsprocket wheels.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

